


What it Means to Burn

by Jaspen



Category: The Trinity Prophecy - Marissa Kinzel
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, due to several details varying in importance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-25
Updated: 2020-06-25
Packaged: 2021-03-03 22:41:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 14,578
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24883228
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jaspen/pseuds/Jaspen
Summary: “Leof... ” Her voice was broken, pained, scared in a way he’d never heard. It compelled him forward. His fingers barely brushed the charred bark of her shoulders before she crumbled; her warm eyes now cold, disappearing into the ash.---Leof awoke with a start, choking down a scream as his blunt nails tore holes in the sheets of his bed. His breathing was heavy, and despite the darkness, everything was cast in a medium-ish glow. Sitting up, he rubbed his face with both hands, trying to calm the tension vibrating out of him through his fingers. Blazes, that one was...He stood up, running fingers through his loose hair. His sheets were singed. He focused on the fact he’d need to repair the holes so that he didn’t think about cause and effect and the sheer terror he felt at their correlation. He could hear talking down the hall, which either meant Tanza had just arrived or Aldebrande was stalling her so he could get a little more sleep. With a sigh, he pulled his hair back and scrubbed the still warm igneous rock off his face. As much as he hated politics, he was actually looking forward to being out of his head for a little while.
Relationships: Leof/Anthea (The Trinity Prophecy)





	What it Means to Burn

**Author's Note:**

> This fic was written while the book was still in creation. There's lots wrong, but I thought I'd post it anywaysss
> 
> Go buy [The Trinity Prophecy](https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/the-trinity-prophecy_marissa-kinzel/26577879/#edition=32931770&idiq=38941972) and read it, it's amazing.

“Leof, my boy, you have guests.”

With a heavy sigh, Leof pushed up from the flat of his desk, away from the minuscule gears he’d steadily been chipping away at, and moved his magnifiers up from where they sat on his nose so they settled in the flicker of his hair. All he wanted to do was work on his projects in peace, but none of the delegates seemed to understand the simple concept of leaving him the hell alone. It almost made him wish he hadn’t been singled out for this whole, Save the World thing, because wow, he did not want this.

“Whatever delegate it is this time, tell them to come back later,” He stood, not to greet whoever it was coming to meet him but to grab something from the fuel shelves. He was burning low and would need the stimulus in the coming hours. The salts were stacked in smallish cubes—some crumbling, some not—and next to them were vials of diesel for particularly long nights. He hadn’t had one of those in a while, but with all the interruptions and his limited sanity in these instances, he was sorely tempted. “I don’t have the time or patience to deal with whatever problem they’ve talked themselves into this time.”

“Well, fame certainly hasn’t gone to _your_ head, that’s for sure.”

“Fuck off,” He bit back a smile and focused more on his current objective, grabbing a couple of salts, and heading back into the workroom. Neros, proper as ever, stood near the room’s entrance like he didn’t know how to take a damn seat, his smile as bright as the sun on snow. Anthea was the exact opposite, having draped herself over his chair, arms crossed over the backrest, and chin pillowed on her forearms.

“Now now, let’s not fight,” Despite his more somber tone, Neros seemed more jovial than Leof could ever remember. He supposed the impending doom of one’s parents being lifted from one’s shoulders would do that to a person. “There isn’t a proper arena around for you to let loose in, and I’d hate to see what collateral damage the both of you can create unrestrained.”

Anthea laughed at that, popping one of her seeds and rolling it around from cheek to cheek. She made an odd kind of face when she did it, which wasn’t something he thought too much about, and turned his attention back to Neros.

“Well if you didn’t come to fight, what did you come for?” He dug out a groove of salt and tossed it into his mouth. It took a minute, but the warmth would start to show, and he’d feel more up to snuff. “Besides interrupting my work.”

“That one’s kind of a given,” Anthea pointed out, rocking on the chair legs, and Leof wasn’t sure if he wanted her to fall or not. On one hand, she could get hurt. On the other, there was no possible way she could get hurt, this was Anthea for blaze sakes. She ran into danger before danger could blink; a little backwards fall off of a chair wasn’t going to do anything, where did Leof even _get_ that idea.

He found himself moving closer to the furnace regardless. There was a fire going, and he’d just feel a whole lot better about her recklessness if he was between her and any potential disasters.

“Runa told me there would be an eclipse in about a month,” Neros supplied, taking a few steps further in and tugging at his collar, but otherwise hiding how uncomfortable the heat must be making him. Leof was almost positive he wasn’t going to melt, but he couldn’t be sure how Veturians worked. He’d never once met the ice peoples of the mountains, and just because Neros hadn’t melted when he’d worked on his arm, didn’t mean anything.

He could just ask, of course, but that would require asking.

“Ohh, really?” Anthea seemed to know what he was talking about at least. “Solar, or Lunar? I haven’t seen one since I was small, and Rosea had to literally drag me out of bed it was so early.”

“Lunar; sometime around eleven in the evening, if my calculations are right,” Neros said, and Anthea wiggled excitedly. Leof couldn’t tell if this was just the kind of crazy she was, or if she was purposely doing this to deprive him of his chair. Oh well, it didn’t much matter. He couldn’t get much done with them demanding so much fo his attention anyway. “Saiph confirmed an alignment in--”

“Wait wait, hold up, Saiph?”

“Y-yes,” Neros seemed thrown for a moment, and Anthea was suspicious. Leof was intrigued, because of the secrets. Not that he wasn’t used to secrets being kept from him, but he had never seen Neros hide anything from anyone. Well, almost anything. The whole overusing his ice magic had been something Leof had not been, at the time, equipped to recognize as quite the problem it had ended up being. Neros cleared his throat a bit. “From the port, um... I could have sworn I told—”

“First I’m hearing of them,” Anthea was almost accusatory as she pushed herself up from her hunched position, her head tilted to the side, and Leof knew she hadn’t blinked in over a minute because her face was twitching ever so slightly, and she had yet to break eye contact with a very uncomfortable looking Neros. “What are they like? Do I know them? Where’d you meet?”

“Thats—” Neros looked at him, but Leof was at a loss on how the conversation had even degenerated into whatever this was. “I highly doubt that’s important—”

“You are incredibly wrong, are they from the port? You’ve gone down there an awful lot since the solstice, and don’t think I haven’t noticed your _increased interest_ in astrology!”

“Astrology is a perfectly normal interest!”

“I can one hundred percent absolutely read the compatibility tables you think I don’t see you peeking at when you think I’m not looking.”

“Thats—! The, the point remains—!”

“At least tell me if they’re pretty! Or handsome!”

“Y... yes?”

“Yes to which one though.”

“B... both? Look, Anthy, Asteri don’t really have a concept of—”

“HAH, SO IT'S ONE OF THE SPACE PEOPLE!!”

“WHY ARE YOU YELLING THIS IS LITERALLY THE LEAST IMPORTANT THING RIGHT NOW!”

Okay, that's about enough of that. “I’d actually prefer it if you both didn’t garner the attention of the entire volcano, thanks,” Neros, at least, had the decency to look sheepish. Anthea just smiled brightly, then gave a wicked smile Neros’ way, and Leof knew that he would not envy the Veturian prince this night.

“What I’ve been _trying_ to say,” Neros started again, making a point to not glance at Anthea in the slightest. “Is that with the eclipse coming up, now would be a good time to give thanks to the Gods for their time and attention.”

Anthea rocked on the chair a bit, before settling all four legs onto the floor. “Oh yeah, you did suggest something like that last meeting, didn’t you?” It wasn’t a plan so much as a compromise, something Melanthos had unknowingly suggested. With their egos so tightly tied into their dietical knots, letting the gods know they were appreciated was a good step towards keeping them from doing something stupid again. Leof still didn’t think they deserved it, but he could see the logic behind the idea. “I’ve talked to Duran about it, and he seems willing to go along with the idea. Gotta admit though, I dunno the first thing about how to worship an ice goddess.”

“Yes, I’m not quite sure the Veturian method would be as accessible to... anyone outside of Vetur, really,” He rubbed his forehead a bit in thought, his expression becoming somber. “To be honest, I was thinking of separating the Festival of Ice from our worship of Lady Isolde.”

“Because of your parents, right?” Neros flinched a little but nodded. Anthea fell into thought, her brow creasing just the slightest bit in concentration. “What would you replace it with, then?”

“I was hoping you both had some ideas, actually.”

“The festival isn’t the problem,” Leof said, plucking the cluster of gears from the table and tinkering with it a bit. There wasn’t much he could really progress on without throwing all conscious thought towards the project, but it would keep his focus off his slowly building anxiety. He’d thought he’d gotten over it years ago, but now that he had people who he actually cared about in some capacity that wasn’t Aldebrande, it was a whole new beast to deal with. “Isolde was an ass. The lot of them were being petty, and childish, and you shouldn’t change your traditions just because she can’t get over the fact that she’s not the center of the world for every Veturian that ever existed, exists now, or will exist in the future.”

“I agree with Leof on this one,” Anthea nodded like she was still coming to an agreement with herself. “Your people _love_ the Ice Festival, and it’s been going on so long, it was probably around before Isolde became a god—actually, we should ask that,” She looked at Leof this time, though he only knew so because of how she moved in his periphery. She was probably noticing for the first time what he was doing, and would want to know; she was nosey like that. He refused to look away from slotting the gears together and testing their fluidity. “The Entrance should be open this time of year right? I can’t remember if Melanthos can’t leave Umbra, or just won’t.”

“He never specified,” Leof returned, finally looking up to see Anthea watching him, his hands, and he had to look away again. “Just make sure you have coin unless you want what happened last time to happen again.”

“Yeah yeah, I hear ya,” She waved him off. “But like—Why not pointedly set aside something to honor her with, like a new tradition? I’ve been talking with the elders, and we’re looking for a day to offer bounty to Silva. We were gonna go with the Athletic Games, but those only happen every third cycle, and we figured yearly would be better.”

“Not a bad idea,” Neros intoned as he shifted his weight. “Perhaps poetry? Lady Isolde seems fond of how words flow together, and I’d like to offer something everyone can do, not just myself and my parents... What about you, Leof?”

He shrugged. “I don’t really know your mountain enough to know what to offer,” Neros looked a bit troubled, but after knocking some sense into the idiots who caused the whole worldwide upheaval, they’d had to rush to their individual homes to see if things had worked out. Whatever Frosty was worried about, the aftermath hadn’t given them much time to remedy. “I don’t think Pyrrhus gives a damn about what we do here. He said so himself he just wants to be rid of us and start over, and I can’t imagine his opinion has changed much.”

Honestly, Leof couldn’t blame the god, if this were the case. It was difficult enough getting the council to sit in the same room without fires starting, but it had been an incredible task just to get his story out where they could hear it. He was middle rung, and not only that, an Ember who practiced skills outside of his color. He almost had to set the room ablaze just to get a word in edgewise. Some would think Pyrrhus would be a great help—but then, they probably wouldn’t have listened to him either. Dietical belief wasn’t really something anyone in the volcano actively did anymore.

“I see your point,” Neros postered, looking off into the fire with that thoughtful look on his face. Leof had come to associate this behavior in him with martyrdom, but now that the cause behind such thoughts had disappeared, he wasn’t sure what this behavior was supposed to mean now. Anthea, thank blaze, was just the same as she’d always been—none of this change business that caused all his observations to be thrown to the wind. “However, I can’t see this proceeding well if he were excluded.”

“Yeah, he seemed the easily jealous type,” Anthea nodded sagely. “There’s a cherry back home that was just like that, got upset every time I did anything that didn’t include him.”

Leof’s fingers twitched, but otherwise, he liked to think he’d remained unnoticed. Things were silent for just a hair too long before Neros continued.

“I don’t recall meeting many cherries. Rosea’s one, is she not?”

“Sorta? This guy’s like, I think you’d call it a distant cousin kind of relationship. Whatever a cousin is,” She stretched a bit, turning around in the chair so that when she teetered, she had less chance of catching herself. “Duran got him to stop though after I beat his face in.”

“Anthea!”

“What? He pushed Rosea, he was asking for it!!”

“What are you, six?” Leof mumbled, not intending to be heard, but Anthea laughed loud and bright.

“I mean, at the time, yeah.”

Leof rolled his eyes. Of course. In his efforts to appear disinterested—which he clearly was—he leaned against the table and crossed one ankle over the other. He ate another salt for good measure. “We’re off-topic. While I doubt any of the other Embers are willing to listen to me more than they have to, much less start placing faith in an ass who they can’t physically prove exists without minimal effort on his part, I can see what the council has to say about all of it,” He placed the interlocked gear mass down and picked up the chassis, turning the needles on the face so that they were creating an acute angle. “Now that the prophecy’s a wash, the impossible necessity of civil unity is really the only thing on anyone’s mind right now.”

“Wow, that is the most I’ve ever heard you speak in one sitting,” Leof didn’t have time to process Anthea’s words before she was right there in his face, and he was hit with the strongest panic he’d ever felt. “You feeling alri—” She had reached up her hand, reached for his face, but he was in motion, pushing the table back and moving around it so fast that Anthea hadn’t even looked up from where he had been before he settled behind the stone surface. There was a pause in which the air thickened, Anthea looked at him then at Neros, and exchanged an unreadable look with the startled and worried one Neros currently wore. The silence dragged on while he caught his breath, the adrenaline pulsing through him and casting a brighter glow about his immediate vicinity.

“Personal,” He ground out between grit teeth, his jaw so tightly wound it was starting to ache. “Fucking,” His glare was fierce, aimed straight at Anthea who was only now dropping her hand. “Space,” She blinked at him a moment, studying him with her bright eyes. He felt more wound up than anything, his innards pulling tighter and tighter until she huffed, and one hand went to her hip.

“Yeah, yeah, sorry,” she waved, looking away. “Forgot you needed an eight-foot bubble around you at all times.”

Leof didn’t feel like answering, which was great, because Neros decided to interject. “Clearly, we all have our own difficulties to face, as well as some bridges to gap before the Gods are returned to public knowledge as more than myth,” the smile on his face was obvious in how forced it was, and that just made Leof want to punch it off of him. Which caused a rise of panic to escape that he had to squash down before he lit up the room like a fucking bonfire. There was a pause where Neros looked at him, but thankfully didn’t question what about his words had been so upsetting. Leof was running high right now, and he didn’t know how he was going to manage not exploding if they so much as broached the topic of his runaway emotions. “So perhaps, we could use this eclipse to give something back to Melanthos? From what records say, it’s been quite some time since he’s had any formal relation to the surface, and he _did_ help us more than he needed to.”

“Ohh, like some sort of festival?” Anthea perked, turning her body a little towards Neros, her head angled so she could look at him directly. “That’s actually not half bad! And there’s a lot more information down at the port about him, so I bet we could figure out what he likes and doesn’t, and like, make him dinner or something!” She paused a moment, then. “Well, you can make him dinner, Neros. Leof and I don’t eat like you do, and I think you’re probably closest to what he’s supposed to be? Or maybe the star people are? Regardless, thank your girlfriend for the idea.”

“Th-” Neros sputtered, his face covering in frost despite the sweltering warmth in the room. “They’re not my—!”

“Boyfriend, then.”

“Anthy!”

“My my, what a spirited bunch you are,” came Aldebrande’s voice, and the three of them turned their attention to the Ember standing in the doorway with a gentle smile. “I hate to break up your fun, but the sun should be setting soon. I don’t want you both to be stranded here unprepared.”

“Shoot, guess it’s time to go,” Anthea sighed, rubbing the back of her neck before turning to look at Leof, who hadn’t so much as flinched from his defensive position on the other side of the table. “Lemme know if any of those council guys give you a hard time. I may not know volcano politics, but I can talk anyone in circles if they’re being stupid and difficult.”

“We should be going, Anthy,” Neros laughed, and the tension dispersed, though he kept what little of it he could coiled up around his core. “I’ll be by with more information about the eclipse once it’s been set.”

“Yeah,” Leof stood back up from his on-guard position, arms crossing over his chest. He didn’t sound as baseline annoyed as he usually would have—which bothered him—but he ignored it for now. He couldn’t look at them either, choosing instead to grab a poker and stoke the fire. “Later.”

He could still see Anthea out of the corner of his eye. She started to head toward him, but stopped and turned away, making a frustrated groan as Neros led her out. There was some time in which everything was silent before a hand came to rest on his shoulder. He flinched, but relaxed when he saw it was just Aldebrande.

“You are exhausted, Leof,” he said, a sad smile on his lips. “Perhaps an early night would do you well.”

Leof shook his head as he stood, not necessarily towering over his mentor, but there was a good five-and-a-half inch difference there. “Too much to do,” he sighed, a hand running through his hair. There was a nervousness to him, the kind that didn’t bode well for dreamless nights. The only way he’d achieve that was through undead levels of exhaustion. “Besides, Tanza said she’d be by later.”

“Ah, yes, she did say something to that effect, didn’t she,” Aldebrande said nothing else, but Leof could feel his eyes on the back of his neck. He really hated how effective that was.

“I’m almost finished with this,” he said, not looking away from his work. “When I’m done I’ll... take a nap, or something.”

“I’ll wake you when she arrives,” His mentor said before his footsteps could be heard leaving the room. Leof used this opportunity to turn his attention back to his work. It would only take maybe an hour max, with the added benefit of getting his mind off of things. He really needed a good distraction. With a renewed vigor, he grabbed his tools, his gears, and set to work.

\- - - - - - - - - -

It had been a field, at one point, but fire consumed all in its wake. There was a greatness to the damage that surrounded him, something vast and all-encompassing in its fury. His light paled in comparison to the angry blaze that spread in every direction. What was he to do? Nothing of his capabilities, of his forging, of his magic could take this. He was not equipped the skill, he had no tools with which to improvise. All he could do was watch, and wait for things to pass. He was numb. He had always been. The most surprising thing about this was how long it had taken him to notice.

“Leof!” And just like that, his mind was brought into focus. His head turned just a fraction, almost as if in a trance to see a path unobstructed by the flicker of flames around him. Instead, blocking the path was Anthea. She took quick steps towards him.

 _No stop!_ He cried out, but his mouth didn’t move. He didn’t so much as blink.

“We need to get out of here,” she said, looking around at the blaze with determination as she approached.

_Leave!!_

“Neros should be nearby,” She reached down, hands poised to haul him to his feet.

_Get away from me!!!_

“If we can just find—” She jerked back, fingertips smoldering and slowly building to a bright blaze. She was quick to move, tried to smother the flame with her other hand, but that just made her hand catch fire as well. Each pass trying to put it out just made the fire burn more. She stumbled back, tripping over a rock that brought her to the floor.

Leof scrambled forward, panic overriding him as he pulled off his shirt. He tried to smother the flames, but it wasn't working. All it did was burn at his fingers, dissolving the threads into nothingness.

She grabbed at his hand. The fire burst to life at their contact, and she screamed.

“Dont—!” But it was too late. The fire had caught her hair, had trailed to her body and now she was blazing at full force.

“Leof... ” Her voice was broken, pained, scared in a way he’d never heard. It compelled him forward. His fingers barely brushed the charred bark of her shoulders before she crumbled; her warm eyes now cold, disappearing into the ash.

\- - - - - - - - - -

Leof awoke with a start, choking down a scream as his blunt nails tore holes in the sheets of his bed. His breathing was heavy, and despite the darkness he’d sequestered himself into at the end of his project, everything was cast in a medium-ish glow. Sitting up, he rubbed his face with both hands, trying to calm the tension vibrating out of him through his fingers. Blazes, that one was... 

Shaking his head, he stood up, running fingers through his loose hair. His sheets were singed. He focused on the fact he’d need to repair the holes so that he didn’t think about cause and effect and the sheer terror he felt at their correlation. He could hear talking down the hall, which either meant Tanza had just arrived or Aldebrande was stalling her so he could get a little more sleep. With a sigh, he pulled his hair back and scrubbed the still warm igneous rock off his face. As much as he hated politics, he was actually looking forward to being out of his head for a little while.

They were still been in the small talk stage, which boded well for him. Not only had he not made her wait too long, but also Aldebrande likely had not heard anything relating to his nightmares. He’d never been quite able to keep a lid on them, but he liked to think he was getting better. They were just nonsensical manifestations of stress anyways, so their content didn’t matter.

“Leof!” Tanza smiled, walking towards him, and enveloping him into a hug. He froze for a moment before awkwardly patting her shoulder, distracted by the clear heat she radiated. It was never really something he thought of before, outside of sickness. Maybe the heat of lower-tier Embers made them less susceptible to burnout. “It’s so good to see you,” she smiled, pulling away to hold him by the shoulders and look him over. He shrugged out of her grasp, and she blinked a moment before giggling awkwardly.

“I apologize,” she murmured, taking a step away and folding her hands in front of her. “I forget how important personal space can be for some of the Surfacers.”

“S’fine,” he shrugged. “So, what did you need me for? You said you had suggestions?”

“Yes!” She perked up immediately, flickering brighter with excitement. “Okay, so, I’ve told a lot of the others down below about your story. A lot of them are really inspired, and want to work together to help bridge this gap our forefathers created! It’s just about the only way I think we can get them to listen. We need to outnumber them.”

“I see your point,” He said, crossing his arms over his chest. “But what does that have to do with me? I’m already in this more than I want to be, and I don’t want to become some sort of figurehead.”

“Leof... ” she bit her lip, quiet a moment, before shaking her head decisively. “You’re one of the chosen. The entire volcano knows your name. I don’t think you have much choice about that.”

“You’re the one who talked about me, though,” he pointed out, his anger and frustration with this whole situation seeping into his voice. “I didn’t ask for that, you just did it.”

“No, I... ” she seemed to think a minute before scoffing, pinching the bridge of her nose. “That was a poor choice of wording. Your name was already being voiced when I returned to the depths, I just silenced the false ones.”

“Regardless, I didn’t sign up for this.”

“And I didn’t sign up for my position either, but you don’t see me complaining about it!” Her burst of anger was surprising, but only because her whole color scheme made him think of soft-hearted icicles. She reigned herself in after a moment, taking a steadying breath before continuing. “I suggest we find a way to work together through this, lest we allow our past to pollute our future more than it already has.”

Leof sighed, running his fingers through his hair. It had become a nervous habit he didn’t seem capable of kicking. He’d only developed it after leaving the volcano. “You seem so sure this will work.”

“Of course I am,” she said. “I have to be. How will I represent my color otherwise?”

He was quiet a moment, and then “If I agree to this,” he motioned vaguely. “this alliance, what should I expect?”

“A lot of talking, for one,” Tanza smiled again; this one softer, like she wasn’t sure if she should be smiling at all. He got the impression that she didn’t quite know when to stop. Must be a blue thing. “A lot of those below are curious about your abilities, as well. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was suggested you be tested on your control of magic, as you are the only one of your color so far that we know that has had any skill in its use.”

“I’m sure I’ll be entertaining,” he grumbled, and she took a moment to look sad.

“I can’t say there won’t be those who try to belittle you,” she said, a harsh kind of honesty leveling her voice. “I can’t say there won’t be those who won’t mock, or scorn you. But I can promise beyond a doubt that there _are_ Embers that will listen; that there are Embers who will not look at you with disdain, but with kind regards. It may take time, but I can see it clear as I can see the scars you bear from fighting, clear as the very magma that flows throughout our dear volcano.”

“Geez,” he murmured, rubbing the back of his neck. “Remind me to introduce you to Neros sometime. I’m sure you and the icicle would get along swimmingly.”

“What does that mean, swimmingly?” Her head tilted to the side, but he rolled his eyes.

“Nevermind. Look, I’ll do it, but I have my own ideas on how to go about this,” He paused a moment, before speaking again. “And I’ll need some people with sense who I can pitch ideas too.”

“Yes, of course!” And just like that, she was bright and excited once more. He almost wanted to gag. “I think it would be best if we started out small. Perhaps a trip down below, sometime within the week?”

“Blazes,” Well, he hadn’t been expecting that. “You categorize a trip below as ‘small’?”

“It won’t be too far down,” She clarified, as if that changed the social severity of her implications. “My mother works with varying levels of magic, so she would be the best to assuage your abilities and put to rest the idea that you’re dangerous.”

“Later in the week, you said?” He clarified, biting back some scathing comment he knew would only hinder her work—well, their work.

“Yes. I will come around the fifth rush, so please be prepared,” she turned to Aldebrande, taking his hands in hers and bowing slightly. “Thank you for your kindness, sir, it has been a pleasure.”

“Of course, little one, I could hardly dissuade you from a bout of chatter,” Aldebrande laughed, before she bit her farewell; and just like that, she was gone.

\- - - - - - - - - -

Travel between the different layers within the Elder Ignis Volcano had never been an easy task, but he’d seen the rigs used for it. Between the upper levels and lower, was a large gap, an inner chamber the size of two layers in width that stretched far beneath the Endrian crust. Despite the size, most Embers used it as a barrier between the upper and lower regions, and word of outcasts calling it their home had always plagued the rumor mill. An arena had been set up some time ago to help keep the tension down, but all it really did was give another thing for the two sections to disagree on.

The rig itself was a platform of hardened clay fit with a pulley system that moved it from one layer to the next. It was suspended at the edge of the rings, from which all Embers could see down into the abyss, or up towards the only skylight granted them through the volcano’s opening. It hadn’t erupted since before their recorded history, and as such, they had appropriated the shaft into a transportation system. The bubbling pool of magma, however, was visible by all; located far below even the lowest layer of the volcano.

Leof had looked at these lifts time and time again, broken their structure down, tried design after design to make them better. They were a mix between crafts, the only kind in creation, and he knew well enough that he’d need to replicate that to make them better. But for all his practice, Leof was a small Ember in a field of coals. He had not the abilities with his magic that the lower level Embers had, just a strong affinity, and a mind suitable for adaptation. If all worked out well, however, that was a change he planned to make very quickly.

Tanza, as the last time she’d come, chose a time most Embers were resting and wore a large black cloak to cover her colors from any wandering eyes. She had come alone—which was unusual for lower level Embers, but not unusual for Tanza, who had an attitude that annoyed him in a pointedly specific way. They were silent as they moved, reaching the lift she’d used with little time to spare. Once inside, once her hand brushed the mechanism that set the lift on a descent, he saw her whole form relax. It really brought into focus for him how uncomfortable she must have been so far up. They switched from the upper-level lifts to the lower-level ones at the arena, before descending further into the volcano.

The lower levels were not that much different once you really looked at them. Most notably, it was warmer, and the torches on the wall burned a medium blue a little brighter in tone than Tanza herself. There were other Embers bustling about, looking on with caution once they noticed the lift’s descent, once they noticed Leof. Two older looking ones, both in lighter shades of blue, approached as he stepped off, staves ready and charging.

“Halt!” called the taller one, his hair short-cropped to the point it looked like smolders on the crown of his head, even when flaring. “State your name and business, _yellow_.”

His tone of voice was the kind of harsh that came with centuries of prejudice. “Leof,” he said easily. Honestly, he wasn’t that impressed. Nothing could really compare to Isolde’s petty screeching over a misconstrued lack of respect. He stood firm and didn’t flinch when the man got centimeters away from his face.

“How can we be sure you are who you say,” it wasn’t a question so much as an accusation. Tanza intervened before he really had any chance to respond, pushing the much taller man back so that she stood between them both. He moved easily, with little force going into Tanza’s arms. It was a curiosity, to say the least.

“I brought him here,” Her words were firm, but not unkind. “He is as he says. I wish to have him speak with Mother about what he learned on his journey.”

“A surfacer with magic is a perversion of order,” The man was much fiercer, practically towering over her; a power play he recognized mostly because the deities had used similar tactics when they fought. Tanza flared, her hair growing higher, sharper, the cloak she’d worn billowing out with the intensity of her magic.

“Do you think,” she was angry, her voice commanding a respect he’d never thought to associate with her happy-go-lucky attitude. “for _one second_ , I would allow danger to befall us, Dumor? Do you think I would allow someone to _fool_ me into bringing harm to my kin?”

“I--” He took a step back, away from her fire and fury. The other man stepped forward, pulling Dumor to his knees from the side to imitate the kneel he himself was doing.

“We would never doubt you, your Grace,” he was a richer blue when he stood next to Dumor, almost like Paralia when seen from above. The irony was palpable. “Forgive him, he is merely dedicated to our people.”

Tanza pulled back, her flames flickering down. She seemed almost regal in how she stood, looking down at the two men kneeling before her. “I see now your dedication,” she said with an unusual calm. “However keep in mind the foolishness you have displayed this day.”

“O-of course, Ma’am,” Dumor couldn’t even look her in the eyes. “It won’t happen again, Ma’am.”

“See that it doesn’t,” she motioned silently for Leof to follow her, past whispering Embers and into an alleyway where she removed her cloak and placed it over his shoulders. “Sometimes the things people say really make me wanna—!! ugh,” she huffed, her lips shifting into the pout he was more used to seeing on her as she hooked together several clasps in the front. “I swear, the _nerve_ of that guy.”

“Is he always so charming?” Leof quipped, making Tanza snort as she pulled his hood up. “No, he’s usually a pretty good guy. But I guess this was never going to be easy. You can’t just sort people as good or bad based on childhood prejudices without giving them the chance to change,” After a moment of messing with the cloak, she nodded to herself. “Ok, that’s better. C’mon, now that we’re not gonna get interrogated every three seconds, maybe we can get to where we’re going.”

She was much faster now that the heavy fabric of her cloak didn’t weigh her down, and as such, she took his hand to make sure they didn’t get separated weaving through the crowds. Most Embers followed their own schedule, with each layer keeping to their own day/night cycles, and with little access to the sun, he could see how they had developed a more nocturnal viewpoint.

They didn’t have to go far into the maze of streets and shops, thankfully. The building was about as tall as it could get, sandwiched between this one and the next like a pillar keeping the world afloat above it. Blue flames lined the line of steps leading into the building, and when they entered, he only got a slight view of the details of the architecture before Tanza whisked him into the back, behind doors and doors, and past all kinds of embers. From what he could gather, it seemed they were in some sort of courthouse. When they finally stopped, they were standing before a desk in what he thought was the back of the building, before another blue Ember similar in color to Tanza herself.

“Speak,” she said, her voice sweet, but belaying professionalism as she looked over a handful of papers. This was probably the most astounding thing he’d seen all day; paper was flammable, it caught fire just from a light touch, and there was little saving it once it started to burn. It was why builders etched instructions into stone; because paper couldn’t handle the intensity of being so close. But here was an ember who burned hotter than he did, and she was flickering through them without a care as to how astounding this was.

“Council Azuri,” Tanza was incredibly formal, bowing her head slightly, and keeping it there. “I have brought Leof to see you, as you instructed. ”

“Rise,” was her response, and Tanza did before Azuri placed her stack of papers together, tapped the edges on the desk, and set them aside. Her eyes were intense, looking over him with no particular thoughts visible within them before she stood. Her robes billowed out around her as she stood, her hands coming to rest and fold comfortably in front of her. “Do you know why you are here Leof of Geolwe?”

He didn’t allow her usage of ancient terminology to blindside him. “To rebuild connections between the two divisions of the Elder Ignis Volcano,” which was true, but not the whole truth. “In my travels, I have studied and honed my own form of magic. I wish to put it to use bringing our communities together as one,” which was closer, albeit the reasoning behind it was more a perk than his outright goal.

Azuri scrutinized him a moment, before turning for the door. “Let us see how you do, then,” A glance at Tanza had her giving him an enthusiastic thumbs-up, but it didn’t build a whole lot of confidence.

The room he was led too was large in space, with an impossibly high ceiling. In the center was an arena of sorts, chalk marks carved into recently remelted earth; the entire area looked like one big scorch mark. Tanza silently took back the cloak she’d let him borrow as she closed the door. Azuri motioned for him to stand in the center.

“Now,” her voice was even, precise. “Show me a spark.”

Magic, he found, was all handwork. He flicked the tips of his fingers against his thumb, creating several sparks in succession. This one wasn’t even magic, really, just simple friction. All Embers, even those of higher layers could do this; but he tried to look at it through the kind of obscure perspective he was only grasping due to context. When she was finished scrutinizing, she held up a hand as a signal to stop.

“Now produce a flame,” she instructed. “Keep it alight for as long as is natural.”

He huffed, focusing more on what he knew magic to be, and pulling from his core. He had several salts on hand, should he start to burn too low, but he doubted he was allowed them during—was this a test? Probably. He wasn’t fool enough to think otherwise.

Shutting down his thoughts, he tried to focus on the warmth, the burn that magic left in its wake as it moved throughout every fiber of his being and hovered just out of reach. He flicked his fingers experimentally, waiting three entire minutes for one to catch, before shifting the twist of his wrist and snapping his fingers half a foot in front of him.

It took about three for the magic to light, but once it did, he held it as steady as he could; hand out, fingers cupping the small flicker he was producing. His breath was heavy, in and out as he tried to keep his focus, but his magic had only ever come to him with any convenience in great bursts of emotion. He was sure there was a correlation, but he didn’t know how to work through it. Neros and Anthea had tried to explain how their own worked with them, but he couldn’t quite apply the same concept—and before he knew it the flame disappeared, his focus shot. The frustration boiled inside of him, the heat condensing in a second until the flame in his hand was a boulder—flaring up hot and high, flickering minimal different hues.

And then, without warning, it dimmed and shrank to candlelight and snuffed itself out in quick succession, leaving him shaking and exhausted.

Everything was silent. Both sets of eyes rested on him before the tension snapped, and Tanza ran forward to catch him before his balance gave way beneath him. He vaguely wondered how she’d known he was going to fall before he was lowered to the ground and something was being placed to his lips.

“Easy, Leof,” came Tanza’s voice, and he blinked up at her before looking at the salt. It looked a bit weird, but in his haze he mistook it for something else, something that didn’t make _sense_ and took it into his mouth. The taste was sharp, metallic, and there was a momentous flare of heat that overtook him before he blacked out altogether.

\- - - - - - - - - -

It had been a field at one point, but fire consumed all in its wake. There was a greatness to the damage that surrounded him, something vast and all-encompassing in its fury. His light paled in comparison to the angry blaze that spread in every direction. What was he to do? Nothing of his capabilities, of his forging, of his magic could take this. He was not equipped with such skill, he had no tools with which to improvise. All he could do was watch, and wait for things to pass. He was numb. He had always been. The most surprising thing about this was how long it had taken him to notice.

“Leof!” And just like that, his mind was brought into focus. His head turned just a fraction, almost as if in a trance, to see a path unobstructed by the flicker of flames around him. Instead, blocking the path was Anthea. She took quick steps towards him.

 _No stop!_ He didn’t speak, but his hand moved; held out to show her to halt, to stay where she was, to keep her away from him. She kept coming anyway.

“We need to get out of—,” a flare cut her off, his panic running out of control, an explosion of magic so strong it engulfed her on one blast.

She fell to cinders, and he screamed.

\- - - - - - - - - -

Leof was on high alert as he came too,—his breath heaving, his face hot and mind struggling to place when and where he was. There was nothing he recognized, but at least it was Embrionic. At least it wasn’t made out of water, or ice. Or wood.

A soft voice cleared their throat and he jerked, up and away from the smoldering bed and pressing himself to the chilling stone behind him. He was still shaking from his nightmare. Before him stood Azuri, quiet, and... softer, somehow. “Easy, Leof, easy,” she murmured, taking slow steps forward and settling on the bed next to him. With a wave of her hand the cloth was out, and he was left feeling at least marginally better that there was someone out there who could keep his magic in check. She reached for him and he flinched back, but she didn’t retreat. Her hand was warm on his forehead. “How are you feeling? Physically.”

“Exhausted,” he admitted before realizing how much of himself he was sharing and biting his own tongue in spite. _You trust too easily._ He told himself. _Stop handing your coaldamned heart over to complete fucking strangers._

“Mm,” she nodded a moment, pulling back. “As to be expected. While I admit, I was curious as to how our minerals would affect those of cooler temperatures, I was not particular to finding out like this,” She was being noticeably more nonchalant, which threw him a bit. He also didn’t respond to her other than by staring, so she explained what she must have assumed his silence was asking. “Tanza gave you a bit of copper to help rejuvenate some of your depleted magic. I believe it was a bit too potent and knocked you out.”

Right, he’d had some sort of test to pass, hadn’t he? With a sigh, he wiped any formations off his face and pressed his fingertips into his temples to suppress his likely copper-induced headache. “How long then?” He asked, clearing his throat when it came out sounding like gravel. “How long until I can retake the test?”

He didn’t look at her to see her reaction. He didn’t question her pause. She was quiet. He could tell by the way she spoke, by the level of her voice that she was attuned to picking her words thoroughly before sharing them with the world. He knew before she even spoke that she was looking for a way to turn him down gently.

“Why did you come?” She asked instead, and his gaze was drawn upward. She was not reserved in her judgment or disposition. There was a sadness about her that he had never before seen in any eyes that turned his way. He looked away, unable to face her.

“You’ve seen what I can do,” he murmured, sure in his words but quiet all the same. It was not an easy task to admit weakness. “You’ve seen the power I hold. I’ve seen that power turned on a dime, seen it at work taking down enemies the likes of which you can’t even imagine,” he knew logically he was in the volcano, but in his mind he was in great fields, surrounded by liquid giants and towering roots pulled from molten piles of disjointed rubble. He could see each blast failing before him, each attempt falling to uselessness; could see his anger, his terror, taking form before demolishing all before him. Neros, Anthea... they had been lucky to be well out of reach of his outbursts.

“I don’t want to see what happens when I lose control,” He eased the tension in his fists, leaving the cuts in his palms to drip. “I don’t want to see myself become a monster.”

“Leof of Geolwe, there will be no retaking of any tests,” she was stern in her conviction and when he looked up, his disposition shattered. He could see a resemblance he had only guessed at. The determination in her eyes was astoundingly familiar. “Monsters do not belong in our volcano. As chief magistrate, it is my duty to oversee this does not happen.”

This was it then. He hid his eyes with his hand, trying to stave off everything he was feeling. It was residual, most of the hurt coming from the remnants of his dream. He’d known, too, that none of those below would have been willing to help. Why would they, if his own hue couldn’t cast him more than a weary look whenever he left the house? It had been stupid to think otherwise, to let Tanza convince him this would work. It was stupid to hope for something to go easily for once in his damned life.

“Clear, yellow, twelve hundred C. Astoundingly high in power, but lacks control. Alternate methods advised,” He couldn’t fathom what she was saying. Was that supposed to be an analysis? He looked up at her, and she was standing in the doorway, smiling. “We will meet twice a week to work on your technique. Tanza says you are a quick study; I hope you prove her honesty.”

And with that, she was gone—disappeared into the hallway, out of his range. Leof had only a moment to process what had happened before Tanza came bounding in, running over to him and launching into a hug that nearly pushed him off the bed entirely. “You did it!!” She cheered even as he pushed her out of his bubble. Even as she apologized, she was smiling. “This is wonderful! Come, Chalcanth and I have much to dispense.”

“Chalcanth?” He asked, still a bit dazed as he followed her out. She nodded brightly, leading him down yet another corridor. Perhaps mages preferred closed-in spaces to the large and open ones the warriors of the upper layers preferred to practice in.

“A friend,” she nodded, leading him through a door that led him into a back room somewhere. Inside, one of the guards from before—the one he hadn’t caught a name for—was packing up a second satchel next to the one Leof had brought down with him. “Chalcanth!!” Tanza smiled as she ran in, taking the tail end of his ponytail, coiled with a black wire, and tugging it. His head jerked back, but he used the momentum to shift and grab her up around the waist, hoisting her into the air. She squealed and kicked her legs, but the smile on her face demolished any sense of danger pervading the move.

The man laughed a little as he set her down, before turning to Leof and bowing his head. “Leof of Geolwe,” He said. “I’ve heard much about you from Tanza.”

“Just Leof,” He said; copying the motion, still confused but biding his time. “I don’t really think it’s necessary to announce what color I am when literally everything else does that just fine,” Honestly, it felt like being dragged around all of Endra again—he didn’t know where he was, didn't know what he was doing, his companions were making all the decisions for him. He’d probably be more pissed off about it if he wasn’t so used to Anthea just... doing whatever she wanted.

“Oh, I like him,” Chalcanth said to Tanza, who nodded enthusiastically.

“I know, right? He’s so modest, it’s kinda cute.”

“E-excuse me?!” He could feel the tension popping beneath his skin. Tanza laughed again before Chalcanth picked up the new satchel and tossed it his way. He caught it and looked it over, recognizing the intricate simplicity of the embroidery and the worn texture behind the fabric itself. “I have one that works just fine,” He said, but Chalcanth shook his head.

“Any mage worth his salt keeps his tools separate from everyday aspects of life,” he handed him a small knife, a canister of ash, and two simple bound books with blank pages. “These are the basic tools of a blue mage. Some of them you’ll use more than others, some of them you won’t use at all. It all depends on how your magic starts to form.”

“I’m a caster,” Tanza chimed in. “I mostly use the ash to channel my magic and the books to write my spells in. It’s not as great for combat situations, so if the lower levels of the volcano were to be attacked, I would mostly be casting defensive shields and keeping children out of sight.”

“I’m a warrior mage,” Chalcanth said. “My abilities lie mostly in casting with a staff. Attack magic is what I’m kind of best at, as well as enhancing certain aspects of my physical body, like my speed. It’s less inherently magical and more subliminal, and since we’re not actually at war with anyone right now, I use my abilities to guard the lifts. If we get attacked, I can cause a commotion and give the more powerful mages a chance to prepare.”

“Ah,” He looked at the tools in his hands and slipped them into the satchel. “I’m a caster, then?”

“Well, that’ll be up to you,” Tanza shrugged, grabbing the satchel he had come with and handing it to him as well. “Mother thinks your biggest obstacle is control, and this is the form that, while being the most difficult, hones it the easiest. Once you’ve mastered the basics, we can see if your upbringing with steel has any influence on how you best use your magic,” she picked up the last thing on the bed—a pile of cloth that became a black cloak identical to the one Tanza traveled with when unfurled. “I will not be able to retrieve you each time, so use this to travel between the layers. Chalcanth guards the gate by himself every other day, so those would be the best times to come.”

He looked between them, then down at the cloak in her hands, at the new bag he now carried. It wasn’t at all what he had expected, but it was a step in the right direction. He took the cloak with a nod, fastening it around his shoulders and pulling up the hood. “I’ll see you in two days' time,” he said, rolling his eyes at the ecstatic little jump Tanza performed. Chalcanth, at least, had the decency to just smile and not say anything. “Now how the fuck do I get out of here?”

\- - - - - - - - - -

Traveling between the layers wasn’t as difficult as he’d thought it would be, but it was still tedious. He didn’t complain though, and while he hadn’t really made a breakthrough, Azuri was confident in him and the small flame he’d been able to create. He could light a candle now from across a small room with no problems, and he could hold the same size flame in his hand for several minutes—but he still didn’t feel like he’d gotten anywhere. So he practiced, and practiced, and practiced until Aldebrande had to shoo him off to bed so he didn’t pass out at his work table. This happened more often than Leof would like to admit.

About two weeks into his lessons, Leof found a break from the routine crafted around him in Neros. The man had convinced Aldebrande to let him in and had pulled Leof away from his work to... to sample, of all things. “I’m thinking this, maybe?” He’d pointed to some sort of meat? Leof didn’t know, didn’t really eat much that wasn’t salt.

“How should I know?” He said, taking a bite only for it char and melt almost immediately. There was... tea? He could get a brief taste of the vapors, but this wasn’t helping him much at all at deciding what Melanthos would like. He was literally no help in this, but Neros seemed nervous about something, so Leof decided to humor him until he could talk about whatever it was he needed to talk about. “All I’m tasting is char and... burnt leaves, I think.”

“Hm,” Neros frowned, setting it aside and bringing out some sort of... what had he call it, a kische? “Perhaps this wasn’t the best idea.”

“Yeah, no shit,” Leof rolled his eyes, but took a bite of the thing anyway. Whatever it was, it burned just as he got it into his mouth. They sat like that, trying food after food, Neros trying to make small talk and being too distracted to keep one line of thought going for too long.

“I’m sorry,” Neros says after a moment, eyes cast downward and shoulders slumped. “I know how bothersome this can be, but with the turmoil here, I figured it was easier than having you visit Vetur.”

“Okay, what?” What was he going on about? He clearly felt guilty for something, but what... what? “You’re not making sense. What are you sorry for?”

“Well, that you live here,” He immediately tensed and had to backtrack his words. “Not that the Elder Ignis Volcano is bad! It’s actually a lovely place, and I really enjoy visiting, and—”

“Get to the point,” Leof cut him off and Neros flinched.

“I just... there’s so much about our respective cultures that neither of us know, and... despite you being so quiet, I know so much about this place... ” He placed the... Leof thought it was called a fork down on the table. “I realized that, although it was unintentional, I haven’t been sharing much about my homeland. Anthea asked so many questions when we first met I just assumed that, if there was anything you wanted to know, you would as well,” He rubbed his arm, eyes cast down to the floor. “In that way, I excluded you, and I hate to think of being so terrible after all you’ve done for me. I’m sorry, Leof, for being so cruel to you.”

Leof had folded his hands in front of his mouth at some point during Neros’ monologue and didn’t move them when he had finished. Instead, he pushed the words around in his head, taking everything for what it was; the words themselves, the pitiful expression Neros was looking at him with right now. He didn’t answer right away, but he did answer. And when he did, he was slow, focusing on the tone of his voice so he didn’t come off... well, sour.

“It’s true that you did that, yeah,” he says, holding his hand up to silence any more apologies. “But I didn’t really notice it. Well, I did, but only at first. Do you remember the night I worked on your arm?”

Neros winced but nodded. Leof didn’t blame him, it couldn’t have been the easiest of memories. “Right, well I’d told you to talk, to tell me about anything you wanted, to distract yourself. Do you remember what you talked about?” Neros went to answer, but stopped.

“No,” His face betrayed his loss of the memory, of the haze Leof’s quick thinking had brought him. “I don’t.”

“You talked about your parents.”

Neros jerked a bit at this surprised, but Leof didn’t let him finish. “You talked about what they looked like, your memories of them, how you worried that even after all of this, there’d be no way to save them from their curse.”

He leaned back in his chair and looked to the fire. “My parents left me for dead when they found out I was practicing magic. Aldebrande found me, and then you two came along, and the rest is history,” The flames flickered a bit. Watching them always calmed down the sheer vulnerability he was feeling whenever he talked about this. “There’s not much else, so that’s all you get. I don’t care how guilty you’ve built yourself up to be, but you don’t owe me anything. Your relationship with Anthea, and your relationship with me are two different things, and there’s no use comparing them. Don’t go making excuses to do stupid shit, just so you can feel like you’ve got us on an even playing field.”

“Heh,” He looked up at the frankly _relieved_ sound of Neros’ voice, and started a bit. He was crying. Before he could pinpoint what exactly had set Frosty off, he was wiping his eyes and smiling brightly. “Right again. But then, I shouldn’t be surprised; you really are the smartest out of us, you know.”

Leof could feel his flames jump at that but focused more on the fire, scowling behind his hand. “Yeah yeah, just don’t melt all over the table.”

“Though that makes me wonder, if my relationships with you and Anthy are different, then what about yours and—”

“Do you have any more food you need me to try or not, because I have work to get back to, and you taking up my entire afternoon was not in the plan.”

Neros laughed brightly at that, pulling out another something and passing it to him. Leof ate it, told him it was horrible, and kicked him out before he flared up too much more. Oh well, at least Neros didn’t look like the weight of the world rested on his shoulders anymore. Leof had had enough of that during their actual journey to last him the rest of eternity.

\- - - - - - - - - -

“So it’s settled, then?” Neros asked, and Leof rolled his eyes.

“It’s kind of the only thing we can do, so yeah, it’s settled.”

“Right,” Anthea nodded, relinquishing her chair and standing up in a stretch. It was stone, and kinda unforgiving, but Leof always looked so annoyed when she touched his things so it was hers now. “We’ll go see Melmel, drag his emo butt up to the festival, and stuff him with so much good food he’ll pass out!”

“That's—”

“He is absolutely going to kill you if you say that to his face.”

“No one is going to kill anyone, we are all going to be respectful of the one God on this planet who didn’t—Pardon, act like a complete asshole when he absolutely could have,” Neros huffed. “Unfortunately, now that this is ironed out, we must get going. Runa had a couple of fables she wanted me to go over for proper ways to worship lady Isolde.”

“I won’t keep you,” Leof said, turning from them and waving a casual goodbye. “Don’t hurt any of the guards on your way out,” this didn’t sit right with Anthea, but Neros caught her eye as she went to do something about it and shook his head. She didn’t attempt to hide her frustration as headed for the door.

“We’ll see!” She called as they left, Neros giving his own goodbye before they made their way to the path that lead outside the volcano. They didn’t speak. They’d spoken on this subject enough times over the past month that every point was worn down and dull.

“I worry about him too, Anthy,” And apparently they were going to hash it out again because Neros just couldn’t stop being a bleeding heart. She got it, she really did, but still... “But he’s clearly still uncomfortable with us being so outwardly affectionate.”

“A hand on the shoulder isn’t affection, Neros, it’s just touching. It’s communication. I’m not trying to like, kiss him full on the mouth or anything!” Which come to think of it, _might_ just break him out of this...

“Don’t you even, Anthea!” Ooh, he was using her full name now, he was serious. Neros was looking at her like Derwen did when he saw a particularly good prank come into focus. “If I wouldn’t be okay with it, then you should assume he probably wouldn't be either!”

“So you _don’t_ want me to kiss you?”

“T-that's—stop running me in circles, Anthy, it won’t work!!”

“Yeah yeah,” she sighed, giggling just a little as the tension between them eased into something softer. It was nice to see his backbone every now and again, so she could let him win an argument or two. “Save your lips for your starfriend or whatever.”

“Star—you mean Saiph?” He frosted a bit at that. She wasn’t even like, outright teasing now, this was great.

“Yeah, since you keep denying they're one or another, it’s just easier to make up a new bae title. And they’re a star people, so.”

He sputtered like he was going to denounce her comments on his romantic life like he had every other time she’d brought it up, and sighed instead. A huge grin spread on her face. Anthea 9782, Neros 3.

“It honestly doesn’t matter, you’ll understand when the festival—Oh!” He paused, looking back at the volcano. “I forgot to tell Leof the date of the festival. I’m not going to have time between now and then with all the preparations—!!”

“Neros!” She took him by the shoulders, shaking him a bit to throw him off track. It worked, but not as well as it had when they were little. He merely made her release him and continued to look worried. “You go on ahead, Vetur is farther away than Arborea, I’ll just tell him when it is, then head home.”

“But—” his face was overcome with concern of a different caliber, and she bopped him on the nose to snap him out of it.

“First off, I was 14 when that happened, why are you still thinking about it. Second, it’s a night festival! Did you think I wouldn’t put our herbalists to making a seed that can get us through a night of fun?”

“You’re right,” he sighed, nodding. 9783,3. “You’re right, you’re right. Are you sure you don’t want me to come with you?”

“Go tell your mom about your new bae, then give me all the details of the wedding you’re planning.”

“Ice, you’re insufferable.”

“I love you too,” she kissed his cheek and he made a disgusted face before they both laughed and parted ways. She watched Neros for a few moments and then turned on her heels, racing off back towards the volcano. This wouldn’t take too long, she just needed to tell him when the festival was going to be.

Except that he wasn’t home when she arrived, and that was certainly a surprise. He left his house? Without prompting?? Preposterous.

“I’m sorry, Anthea, I wish I could be of more help,” Aldebrande apologized, but she shook her head, popping one of those nighttime seeds she’d told Neros about. She hadn’t thought she’d need it, but—well, she was glad she had it. Besides, another test run wouldn’t hurt.

“Don’t worry about it Aldy, I’ll find him,” she stretched, marveling at the rejuvenation in her joints and the tire she hadn’t noticed before leaving her. “You said he’s probably deeper in the volcano, right? I’ll just slip on down and find ‘m. Shouldn’t be too hard,” he was pretty easy to find in dark places.

“Very well,” Aldebrande smiled at her. “Be careful; I’d hate to see you come to harm over this. Are you sure you don’t want to just leave a message?”

“Nah, I got this! See ya!!”

She was off, running through the quiet streets and looking for the big hole in the center of the volcano that they’d seen when they first visited the colosseum. It was still just as high up as she remembered, and she could still see the magma pool beneath. It glimmered in her peripheral as she took a seed and sank it into the earth, right by both the ledge and a pillar holding up this current layer of the volcano. A few seconds of magic aided by the black soil had her vine growing. and growing, until it basically covered the entire pillar downward. Tugging to make sure the base was secure, she climbed on and eased her way down. Upon finding nothing on the colosseum level, she did the same, only this time she was a tad more cautious. She didn’t know a whole lot about the civil disputes the volcano had to deal with past its relation to Leof’s journey, but she knew that there were Embers she’d never seen before. Luckily she was a master of staying out of people’s view; as long as she was quiet, she’d be fine.

There was a guard at the level she got off on, but he was easy enough to bypass, so long as she stuck to the shadows. After that, she wandered around a bit through the alleyways, waiting for people to look the other way before she slipped to another one. Everyone was in a pretty shade of blue, some were white, and it was a lot warmer down here than she would have thought. This didn’t deter her. What did, was a sniffle coming from somewhere behind her.

The kid was crying. Thick globs that hit semi-dried lava and bunched up on top of itself as it formed a path down the kid’s face. They were small, smaller than some of the saplings Anthea helped with whenever she was home. Almost immediately she walked forward and knelt down to the kid’s level a few feet away.

“Hey there,” she said, startling the kid and making them jump a little. “What’s wrong? Why're you crying?”

“Mm,” they sniffled and wiped their eyes, ash chunks tumbling from their face to make way for a slower trickle of tears. “Mm lost...”

“You’re lost?” She gasped dramatically. The kid’s hair flickered a brilliant green in time with their nervous giggle. “What a coincidence, I am too! I’m looking for a friend of mine. You wouldn’t happen to know an Ember with a looong yellow ponytail, would you?” They showed off her own hair in time with her enunciated words and the kid giggled again, shaking their head.

“Tan-Tanza has’a frien, says he’s y’llo... ” They paused a moment, quiet, then returned to their sullen expression. “D’no where Tanza go... try to follow, but... ” they sniffled again. “B-but too fast... ”

“Hey, hey now, no more tears,” Anthea booped them on the nose and they giggled again. “What do you say to us teaming up, then? We locate your Tanza and see if she knows who I’m lookin’ for, yeah?” The kid thought about it for only a moment before nodding, and Anthea reached out their hand. “Alright! My name’s Anthy. What’s yours?”

The kid looked at Anthea’s hand then back at their own. They did this a couple of times before their small fingers came out and touched Anthea inquisitively. “Prehni,” She let the kid take their time, and when they seemed comfortable, she helped them to their feet, picking them up easily. They yelped a little bit, and they were really really warm, but they weren’t all that heavy.

“Alright Prehni, what do you say to us getting a better vantage point?” And before they could answer, Anthea was growing a seed from her hand, using it to latch onto the top of the nearest building and pulling them up. Prehni was in awe. Anthea couldn’t tell if it was because they’d never seen an Arborean before, or the view. “I need you to point out your Tanza when you see her, and I’ll look for anything yellow, okay? And then I can swing on over and you won’t be lost anymore!”

“Okay!” Prehni smiled before looking out into the crowd, brow furrowed in concentration. Well, at least they’d stopped crying. With a smile, Anthea set her sights on the Embers milling about as well. Leof should have been easy enough to spot from this vantage point, at least.

\- - - - - - - - - -

“It’s okay, it’s O.K.” Tanza said for possibly the seventh time in the past ten minutes. “Everything is fine,” Everything was not fine.

“She couldn’t have gotten that far,” Leof—fuck, he was trying, but this was not something he was good at. Comforting people was not his strong suit. All he could do at this point was maybe try to get her to not wear a groove into the floor. “Let’s just double back and see if we catch sight of her. She’s small, right?”

“Yes!” Tanza cried, her hands coming up to her face, her shoulders smoldering. “Oh charcoal she’s so small, she could get trampled—Chalcanth, what if she gets trampled?!”

“She won’t get trampled,” Chalcanth was kind in his words, placing a hand on her shoulder and allowing his own for her to hide in when she started crying. Leof looked away, eyes focusing on anything else. “You know how she gets. Likely, she got excited and tried to follow you. Leof has the right idea, we’ll go retrace our steps, and see if we can find her that way.”

She sniffled but nodded, pulling away and wiping her eyes. “Y-yes, yes, you’re right. You’re both right, of course,” With a steadying breath she was back, determination settling her expression. “Come on, let’s go. The sooner we find her, the sooner I can find an excuse for Leof being late for his lessons.”

Retracing Tanza’s steps had been more difficult than Leof had anticipated, mostly because he wasn’t quite sure who he was looking for. He knew she was small, and that she was supposedly wearing a black cloak, but that was about it. Most Ember mage children looked like that from what he could tell, which made this all the more difficult. When he’d pressed for a more identifiable feature, Chalcanth just said “Oh you’ll know her when you see her.”

The search lasted about an hour before Tanza started to fret again, but she didn’t let it stop her. She started checking more hidden areas, ones that only she would know about, ones that Leof—as much as some of the Embers had gotten used to him—would not have been allowed to enter. When Tanza failed to return, Chalcanth went in after her, leaving Leof to his own devices. The minutes that ticked by were frustrating, but he couldn’t do anything about it. He could only cross his arms, tap his foot, and tried to keep his emotions in check. A flare-up now wouldn’t help anyone. 

So instead, he watched the other Embers move about in the distance. There was a stall across the way that sold trinkets of some kind, advertising magical effects. Down the street, a ton of books were stacked precariously on open-air shelves, signs proclaiming a renting fee as well as a bin for drop-offs in view. There were some kids playing in the square, all blues of different hues shooting small blasts at each other, but never quite reaching. One started to juggle a couple of fireballs, throwing them higher and higher and higher into the air, nearly hitting—

“Anthea?” He murmured, disbelief overtaking him. It couldn’t be—she had no way to traverse the volcano, but—but it was. He would recognize her from anywhere, could see one of the distinct knots of her bark highlighted by a hooded cowl giving off a gentle, green glow. He wasn’t sure which surprised him more, but the little Ember—green... green?—caught his line of sight, and brought Anthea’s attention his way. The Arborian smiled, and waved, and fear dropped in his gut before he raced across the street, hood pulled up and aiming for an empty alleyway.

“No sign of—Leof?”

“Leof, where are you—”

“Chalcanth, c’mon!!”

Anthea dripped into the alleyway with the help of a vine, Ember child settled on her hip as if nothing were odd about that. Little hands held onto her shirt, vibrant eyes looked at him with a sort of curiosity while Anthea had the gall to smile at him like her being this far down wasn’t some ploy on her part to throw him into overload.

“Leof!” She grinned before looking at the kid. “See? I told you, he sticks out like a sore thumb,” He kept looking at the little hands, at them pressed against her skin, kept looking at Anthea's face for any signs of pain. She wasn’t... she wasn’t burning? She was fine?

“Prehni!” Tanza called from behind him. She raced forward, scooping the reaching child up into her arms and kissing all over her face and making her giggle. “Oh Prehni, where did you go? I told you I’d be back!”

“Sorry, Tanza,” The little girl mumbled, shrinking into her cowl. “Wan’ed to go too... ”

“Oh...” Tanza looked about to cry again. Chalcanth stepped in and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder.

“How about we all go out next time, hm?” He said to Prenhni, who smiled bright before looking to Tanza for confirmation.

“We have to ask Mom, but I think we can do that,” She smiled happily. The little girl cheered before a thought came to her eyes and she wiggled to get down.

“Thank you, Anthy,” she said with a bow before Anthea scooped her up, making her squeal and tickling the life outta her.

“Haha, see kid? You can always trust Anthy to come through in a bind!”

“Or to dropkick you into a ravine,” These were not the first words Leof had wanted to say to her, but they were in company and he was still trying to process his shock.

“You were fine,” Anthea sassed back, setting Prehni down and ruffling her hair. “There were plenty of magma-face’s goons there to break your fall,” He rolled his eyes at this, and she laughed. It calmed him down a little bit, but his eyes kept focused on her hand.

“A-Anthy?” Tanza asked, finally taking stock of what was actually going on. She wasn’t the only one—Chalcanth’s jaw had dropped and he had yet to pick it up. “As in—as in Anthea? The Arborian Princess from the Prophecy? The one who speaks to Divine Silva of the Glen?” Tanza took her hand, shaking it wildly. “Oh thank you, thank you for all you’ve done! Leof’s told me of your adventure, and to actually see you in person—and Prehni! Thank you for finding her, she’s so small, I was so worried that—” she gasped, and pulled her hand away as if she were burned, eyes searching Anthea’s hands frantically. “I’m—I’m so sorry, I could’ve—”

Anthea’s laughter cut her off as the Arborian pulled her into a one-sided hug. “No sweat! I’m magic n’ stuff, a little fire can’t hurt me.”

“But... but you’re... ”

“A tree?” Tanza nodded. Anthea nodded back. “I’m also magic, remember? Do you think I could have fought a god of fire and come out unscathed otherwise?”

“No, I,” Tanza looked absolutely starstruck, a smile coming out from behind her awe. “I suppose not. Um,” She brushed herself off, stepping back to bow at Anthea politely. “My name is Tanza. This is Chalcanth, and you’ve already met Prehni.”

“Charmed!” Anthea smiled. She gently closed Calanth’s mouth by his chin with a wink. He was absolutely beside himself. Instead of teasing him further, she turned to Leof, who was annoyed, but mostly relieved. This wouldn’t stop the nightmares, but... it would help. Hopefully.

“Hey! Neros forgot to tell you the festival’s going down the 21st.”

“And you came all the way here, past sunset to tell me this.”

“Duh?”

“You know how late it is, right? You’re absolutely going to pass out.” Instead of answering him, she pulled out a seed of some sort—one he hadn’t seen before—and popped it into her mouth. A couple of flowers bloomed in her hair and in several places along her arms. They were glowing a little bit.

“Huh,” she said, inspecting the blooms on her arms. “I probably shouldn’t have done that.”

“What did you do, exactly?” Tanza's curiosity was tangible.

“Arborians are diurnal, tend to sleep when the sun’s gone,” she said, pulling out a couple more seeds and showing them off. “We’re trying to plan more things to appease the gods so this whole, magical imbalance thing doesn’t happen again, and some of the people back where I live made a seed that gives us enough energy to last through the night. Still in testing, though,” she slipped them into her seed pouch before strapping it back to her belt. “I already ate one when I realized I had to go looking for Leof. So this would be my second one in an hour? Two hours?”

“For fuck sake,” Leof pinched the bridge of his nose. He could already feel the headache forming behind his eyes.

“So why’re you down here anyway?” Anthea, of course, dodged all of his barriers and hit him straight where it hurt. It was still a soft spot, still not something he liked to talk about, but a quick glance around told him all he needed to know. Everyone here already knew about his magic. The only difference was Anthea didn’t really know the full importance behind his decision to go through with practicing it.

“My magic,” he said after a moment, trying not to grit his teeth, telling himself it was fine, this was _fine. Really._ Even so, he couldn’t really look her in the eye, was instead looking away; rubbing the back of his neck in hopes that it would soothe his anxiety.

“It wasn’t much help during the fight.”

_I couldn’t do anything._

“Barely singing Silva doesn’t count, even if Isolde took a blast to the face.”

_I need to get it under control._

“This way, at least, I can use my abilities to their fullest.”

_So I don’t hurt the ones I love._

“He’s been a big help!” Tanza chimed in, bumping him with her shoulder, which threw him off a bit. She gave him a look, one he couldn’t decipher, before smiling brightly at Anthea once more. “We’ve been working together to gather a new council. One of all colors that we can use to show our elders that we are united, and should not be divided! It’s still in the early stages; there’s only really a few of us,” she looked around at their little group determination settling back onto her features. “But I think this plan will work. No, I’m _positive_ it will!”

“You know, Leof,” Anthea’s smile was both kind and mischievous, and that was never, ever a good thing. “I think I’ll recant my offer to talk some sense into your leaders. This is a much, _much_ better idea. If you guys ever need some tips in showing old people how wrong they are, let me know. Actually, let Neros know too, I’m sure he’d have some great ideas to throw in as well.”

“O-Ohmygosh, really?!”

“Oh absolutely!”

“Oh fuck,” Leof sighed but didn’t say anymore, instead stepping back and letting them go on about meeting times and dates. Prehni had taken to inspecting his hand; looking at the cracks in his coalskin, at the color of his hair. He let her. She probably had just about as many questions about him as he had about her.

“Is she,” Chalcanth cleared his throat, sighed a little, and—oh. Oh blaze. Like, he couldn’t really _blame_ him, not really, but he was going to have to fight this guy, wasn’t he? “Is she always so... so vibrant?”

“She’s a plant,” he shrugged. “It’s her thing.”

Shortly after, when Prehni started to nod off, they decided to separate. Tanza would talk to her mother about what happened, Leof would take Anthea outside of the volcano, since she was literally lost without him there to guide her, and magic lessons would pick up next session. Goodbyes were had, they parted, and by the time they got to the surface, the night sky covered their entire vision.

“You’ve got some good friends,” She said as they walked, their hands swinging close enough to almost touch. He was so viscerally aware of it. He wasn’t sure how she hadn’t noticed yet.

“Wouldn’t exactly call them friends,” He murmured. It was ridiculous, but he could have sworn he felt the air move as her hand briefly missed his. Again.

“You talked about yourself in front of them,” she said with a verbally raised eyebrow. They hadn’t really looked at each other yet, not since leaving the volcano. “They’re you’re friends.”

“If you say so,” The stars were really bright up in the sky. Anthea stopped to admire them, so he did too.

Her knuckle brushed against his and he jerked—fire and burning, cinders and the sound of her scream filling his ears—but she was too fast. She grabbed his hand and held tight to it through the tremors, the fear telling him to let go, to push her way and to keep her safe. Her grip was stronger than his desperation. He looked at their hands, needed to prove the fatality of her choice, to see the smoke and the embers; the fire.

But there was nothing. Just two hands, fingers entwined. He looked at her, and she was still looking at the stars. Her face was serene, and sure. The tremors stopped after a time. Her grip eased, but she didn’t pull away.

“You know,” her voice was loud in the stillness of the night. “I think I know a pretty cool place to watch the eclipse from. It’s a bit farther away from the festival, but only by a couple of minutes.”

“They’d notice we were gone,” He murmured, eyes back on the sky.

“We’d be there and back before they could miss us,” His fingers twitched, and she squeezed.

“ _Neros_ will notice,” He closed his fingers around the back of her hand. The texture was a little rigid, a little bumpy in some spots. There must be a knot nearby that he didn’t know of.

“He’ll be absorbed in his starfriend all night.”

He laughed. It was derisive—but then, most of his positive emotions were. She didn't seem to mind. “Fine fine, stop trying to talk me in circles.”

“7964.”

“What?” He looked at her, caught the smile on her face as she lit up the clearing, a laugh pulling from her chest, and he was lost.

“Nothing,” She pulled away, headed for Arboria in the distance. Their hands slipped apart, and he caught himself reaching for her. He pulled back before she could see. “Oh!”

He didn’t have time to look up, to see her swoop in. All he felt was a pressure on his lips before she was pulling away again and he was engulfed in heat. She laughed as she ran off, stopping at the crest of a hill to call back to him, her hands cupped over her mouth.

“See you at the festival!!” She waved at him and then vanished. He stood there, frozen in place, staring at where she had been when she... she—!!

He screamed. Not a lot, and it's more our of frustration, or—or something, and—

And he really needs to leave. He takes a deep breath to calm himself as he turns, avoiding the greenery that he’d managed to singe in this upheaval of his psyche. He can see for miles, which is not a good thing right now. It means people can see him from that distance, _she_ could probably still see him, was laughing at him and—

The sound of her laughter fills his ears. It’s only a memory, but it’s warm, and new, and he flares. Leof shakes his head and focuses on making it home. Maybe he’d work on his magic or something. It would be more productive than setting the clearing on fire, at least.


End file.
